Irish slam Google over data retention

July 26, 2012- Executive Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt looks on during a reception, hosted by Britain's Prince Charles, at Clarence House in London for the delegates of the Global Investment Conference.
(AP2012)

LONDON – An Irish data protection officer says that Google's retention of Street View data in violation of agreements made with European governments is "clearly unacceptable."

The Mountain View, California-based company angered regulators in several countries in 2010 when it acknowledged that its mapping cars, which carried cameras across the globe to create three-dimensional maps of the world's streets, had also scooped up passwords and other data being transmitted over unsecured wireless networks.

Google was supposed to have deleted the data, but it acknowledged Friday that it had retained some of it.